


Legends Pre-Game Show

by by_heart



Series: Life on the Waverider [6]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 18:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14721512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/by_heart/pseuds/by_heart
Summary: Gideon makes the costumes but she can't do hair and makeup. Ava experiences how the Legends prepare for a mission.Takes place during 3x09 after Ava offers her help with Beebo and the Vikings.





	Legends Pre-Game Show

“Gideon,” Sara addressed as she lead Ava to a room she hadn’t seen before, “Ava’s going to need an outfit as well.”

 

A machine in the wall came to life and began making a costume.

 

Ava quirked an eyebrow. “The fabricator knows my size?”

 

“I do,” Gideon replied. “I was able to ascertain your dimensions the first time you stepped on the Waverider.”

 

“I really don’t know why that surprises me.”

 

Sara grinned as she reached into the fabricator for the first article of clothing, and a second began forming as soon as she withdrew her hand. She folded the item in half and draped it over Ava’s arm. “Gideon knows things about you that you wouldn’t even know about yourself. Gets less weird with time.” Then she began digging through a cabinet, but sighed and closed it again. “Extensions as well, please, Gideon.”

 

“Extensions?” Ava wondered.

 

Sara pulled another item from the fabricator and added it to Ava’s collection. “Hair, makeup, wardrobe, the full works.” Boots came out of the machine and Sara placed them on the bench next to Ava. “You might not need it, you have a lot of hair. It’s up to Nate.”

 

“Nate is doing my hair?” The distrust in her voice was evident.

 

“Our  _ historian _ is going to tell  _ me _ how to do your hair. Hair styles can denote status in some cultures, so Nate gives us pointers to make sure we blend in.”

 

Ava made a face but didn’t speak. She had volunteered for the mission and wasn’t going to argue with the Legends’ process. Yet.

 

Sara added several more items to Ava’s stack of clothing before finally pulling the packet of hair extensions from the machine. “You can change in my room and leave your stuff there, then come to Amaya’s room to do the rest. And if you want to wear your bra, be sure to use the little clips in the shirt to hide the straps.”

 

Ava scoffed. “Nobody would ever be able to tell under all this,” she hoisted up the pile of clothes.

 

Sara walked off, calling over her shoulder, “We have rules about modern underwear. It has blown our cover before.”

 

Ava flipped the top of the shirt open to reveal a small plastic clasp at the shoulder. “I’m not even going to ask how,” she muttered as she picked up her boots and made her way to Sara’s room.

 

She changed into the bottom layers of the outfit and left the rest hung on the back of a chair to be put on later. She roughly remembered where everyone’s rooms were and walked until she heard talking coming from Amaya’s room. When she walked in, she had to stifle a laugh.

 

Amaya was perched on the end of her bed, Ray sitting on the floor between her knees making faces as Amaya braided long extensions into his hair. One section was already done and Ray was working on wrapping a length of leather cord around the end to hide the rubber band. He winced again before finishing the knot. 

 

Next to them, Nate sat on the bed while Leo stood in front of him, leaning over to scrutinize the side of Nate’s face as he attached a fake bushy beard. 

 

“Legends pre-game show,” Ava nodded. “Not what I imagined.”

 

“Well, Gideon can only make the costumes. The rest is up to us,” Ray winced again, but didn’t complain. 

 

“Thankfully, grooming isn’t usually this elaborate before each mission,” Nate mumbled as Leo continued gluing the facial hair to his chin.

 

“Speak for yourself.” “Maybe not for you.” Sara and Amaya spoke in tandem as they glared at the men. 

 

Ava chuckled. “What can I do to help?”

 

Sara turned away from the mirror on the wall and held her partially finished braid in place with one hand. She had already donned half of her costume as well and was making quick work of her hair. She grabbed a brush and a can of dry shampoo from the bed and tossed them to Ava. “Brush out the curls, work in the dry shampoo so it’s easier to braid.”

 

Ava did as she was told then sat in a chair next to Sara to wait. Sara spent another fifteen minutes finishing her hair, then knelt in front of Ava with a length of decorative chain and bobby pins. “Put these here and here, please,” she instructed as she pointed where she wanted the ends to go. She held the chain in place across her forehead while Ava pinned it, then took a quick look in the mirror. “Good. Now you.”

 

Ava sat up straight in her chair and held still as Sara sectioned her hair and began braiding. As she tied off the first one, Ava turned slightly to look up at Sara. “You are incredibly fast at that.”

 

“Anachronisms don’t really wait around for us to look pretty.” She tilted Ava’s head to start the second braid. “We’re usually on a clock.” 

 

Amaya snorted. “And, yet, it took you over an hour to get ready the last time we left the ship for fun.”

 

“I’m a girl,” Sara shrugged. 

 

“Takes Nate that long just to get ready in the morning,” Ray chuckled.

 

Nate, now finished with his beard and waiting his turn to have his hair done, smacked Ray on the arm. “Does not.”

 

Ray reached out to hit him back, aiming for his leg, but Amaya tugged on his hair to get him to stop moving. He straightened his back and groaned. “Sorry,” he squeaked out.

 

“Nate, make yourself useful,” Sara glanced in his direction while she continued to work on Ava’s hair. 

 

He stood up. “What do you need, Captain?”

 

“Hair extensions.”

 

Nate grabbed the package that Sara had dropped on the bed with everyone else’s accessories earlier. He opened it and carefully removed the strands, beginning to separate them into thin sections on his hand and hold them out for Sara. 

 

Sara secured Ava’s second braid and gently nudged the opposite side of her head to let her know she could sit up and stretch her neck out for a moment. She took several of the sections from Nate and carefully laid them out on the arm of the chair Ava sat in. Then she set to work on a third braid, much smaller, around Ava’s ear. 

 

Ava propped her head in her hand, trying to hold still as Sara separated tiny strands of hair and began twisting them neatly together on the side of her head. When Ava shivered, Sara loosened her grip slightly. 

 

“That hurt?” Sara wondered, trying not to pull too hard on a sensitive area.

 

“No, I’m fine.” She cleared her throat. “It feels good, actually.”

 

“What?” Ray blurted loudly. “How can that possibly feel good? ‘Good’ is not how I would describe what’s happening with my hair right now.”

 

“I assure you, it could feel worse,” Amaya warned.

 

Ava chuckled a little. “I have long, thick hair. It’s heavy and it pulls and it gives me headaches. Playing with my hair,” she pointed to the area Sara was working on, “is a high point in any day.”

 

“Or taking it out of a tight ponytail and taking a hot shower,” Amaya added.

 

Sara and Ava both made sounds of approval.

 

“All I want at the end of the day,” Sara started, “is to take my hair down and run a brush through it.”

 

Ray straightened his back a little and looked up at Sara. “I thought you said all you wanted at the end of the day was to have someone ta-”

 

“And I thought,” she talked over him, “you valued your life enough not to repeat things I may have said while under the influence in 1975.” Sara had to tighten her grip on Ava’s hair as Ava turned to look up at her. Sara realized Amaya, Ray, and Nate had also stopped moving and were all looking at her very expectantly. “What?” When nobody responded but continued staring at her, she shook her head. “Sex, okay? It was about sex.”

 

“Yeah, that part was clear,” Nate nodded and leaned forward a little more. 

 

“We want to know what could make you blush like that,” Amaya grinned.

 

“I wish I didn’t know,” Ray shook his head slightly.

 

Sara rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Ava, pushing the woman’s shoulder so she would turn around and let her continue to work on her hair. “Bunch of pervs,” she chuckled.

 

“Says the woman who bragged about her  _ many  _ accomplishments in Salem,” Nate pointed out. 

 

“Salem?” Amaya wondered.

 

Sara shook her head. “You all showed up right when those fools thought they were going to hang me. It’s not like you didn’t already know what had happened.” Sara tied off another braid and let Ava sit up straight again.

 

Ava stretched her neck to the other side before turning to look over her shoulder at Sara. “Uh, Rip didn’t mention that in his notes. What happened in Salem?”

 

“Liberation,” Ray whispered.

 

“Corruption,” Nate added, also whispered.

 

“Rip time scattered us to save our lives. I ended up in Salem just in time for the witch trials.” Sara tilted Ava’s head to start braiding the other side. “We didn’t find Rip until much later,” she said with a hint of sadness. “I’m sure there’s a lot that didn’t make it into his notes from around that time.” She paused for a moment and looked between Ray and Nate. “Something tells me there’s also plenty he  _ was _ present for that he didn’t care to boast about in our file.”

 

“Seventeenth century France?” Ray stated as much as questioned.

 

“You guys really should make a record of that one,” Nate interrupted. “Mick told me about it and it sounded like fun.”

 

“Emphasis on sex, super powers, future tech, and the fact that he followed the rules for once?” Sara asked.

 

Nate nodded. “Those were the highlights, yes.”

 

Ava sighed heavily. “I’m getting why Rip would fail to embellish if that’s what you consider a fun mission.”

 

“Just because we do things differently than the Bureau doesn’t mean we don’t get things done,” Sara said. “That mission was a success. We fixed the aberration, the heir was conceived, the history of science was set back on track.”

 

“I want to hear more about that one later,” Amaya whispered to Ray. He gave her a quick thumbs up and continued working accessories into his hair. 

 

Trying to keep her head still, Ava shifted a little in her seat and pulled one leg up so she could rest her chin on her knee. “Just how many of your missions have gone like that? Gone so wrong that Rip would have felt the need to leave it out of his records of the Legends in order to prevent the Time Bureau from arresting you in order to keep the world and all of time safe?”

 

“Hey,” Nate glared slightly, his tone suggesting he was insulted, “I’ll have you know that sometimes we screw things up for the better.” He smiled when he saw Sara nod resolutely and smile proudly behind Ava. “The end justifies the means.”

 

“Plus,” Ray added, “our way is a lot more fun than the way you Bureau suits do things.”

 

“It’s not meant to be fun, Mr. Palmer. It’s work,” Ava said.

 

“Who says work can’t be fun?” Nate asked. His tone was sincere and his face was slightly puzzled that Ava seemed to think work and play couldn’t coexist.

 

“This isn’t just a job for us,” Sara chimed in. “This work is our lives. We don’t punch a clock, we don’t get a paycheck and benefits. We all came together to make a difference in the world, and we give it our all. We live together, we’re a family, and with everything we’ve gone through together, we need fun in our lives so that we have the will to wake up each day and do it all over again.” She began twisting extensions into the back of Ava’s hair. “We like the silly costumes and hair styles and speaking different languages and collecting souvenirs and stopping to appreciate the beauty in whatever part of the world we’ve landed in. That’s our payment for this job we’re doing that the rest of the world can’t know about.”

 

Ava glanced up to see that Amaya, Nate, and Ray were all smiling proudly as they watched their captain. “Yeah. Okay.” 

 

Truthfully, Ava was a little jealous. And proud that she was accepted into the group to help out with a mission. She was sure it would be a disaster, but she was curious to see how the Legends did things, up close. No matter how the mission went or the final outcome, she knew she would have a lot to make note of when she returned to her office.

 

Forty minutes later, everyone had their hair done and costumes on and stood at the door of the cargo bay with barrels of mead to present to the Vikings. 

 

However the mission went, Ava knew her life would never be the same with the Legends in it. 


End file.
